If you can get bulletproof bags so easily, what's stopping another crazy person from buying a heap of them and then modifying them into a bulletproof suit before going on a shooting spree?

All our body armour requires licensing here too.

Body armor requires licensing? Man, I thought Australia would be hardcore due to it being a desert and former penal colony, but I guess it got all gentrified and now they have to putz around with a man's body armor.

My thought on the "bulletproof" backpacks...if you hypothetically were in an active shooter scenario, you could hole up in a room and bench your handgun on the backpack and cover the door. That way you'd have some support but also a certain amount of ballistic protection.

Not sure if it's useful for kids but maybe could be used by a trained adult.

MHO is that a RESPONSIBLE gun owner should at least have a 12gauge shotgun for versatility of use and availability of ammo. Even if it's purley a defensive totem that never gets used outside of the practice range.

Different machines have different pros/cons and capabilities. So to be "ready for anything" you may need a variety. You may also want redundancies for un-armed family members in case of extreme civil emergency. (See hurricane Katrina, or L.A. riots)

Usual kit would be a long gun and a handgun for backup. So two for each member of your "posse".

You will also need a LOT of ammo to practice up with for each person. So contrary to "bulk ammo purchases" being a red flag, they are actually neccesary if you want to have any sort of skill with your hardware. (maintaining said skill is part of your responsibility as a gun owner.)

A Prayer

Originally Posted by Batman Smells

So

How many guns does a chap need?

A shot gun/pistol for home/self defence

A bolt action hunting rifle

Does a patriot need more than that?

In your scenario, one, an assault rifle. The government should probably mandate or supply some full metal jacket ammo to avoid legal problems. Also, mandating common parts with military issue would probably help commonality, repair, and training issues. A list of critical spare parts would help too. But, you probably meant all if this rhetorically.